Shipin Dalizheng

Rong Zhan and his men pulled Li Dequan up. Li Dequan didn't even bother to wipe the cold sweat off his face. He demanded, "Give me a horse, I'll go..."

"Where are you going? Aren't you afraid of being eaten by the starving people outside?"

Li Dequan's legs went limp, and he wailed, "Ancestor, please don't trick me. I don't want to rebel."

"Alright, I don't really want to rebel. The Marquis of Yong'an is in power now, and the Imperial Seal might be in his hands. How can I get the Imperial Seal without gaining his trust?"

Li Dequan's heart was in turmoil. Being sent here to be the military supervisor was really the worst fate he had ever had in his life.

"If you don't believe it, you can also write it in the military report: On a certain day of a certain month of a certain year, the new army leader Rong Tang surrendered to the Marquis of Yong'an..."

Li Dequan trembled and went back to his room immediately. He didn't dare to write.

That night, several people raided the East Palace and searched several possible places where the imperial seal might be placed, but they found nothing.

When several people gathered somewhere, they gestured to each other to take the opportunity to sneak into the palace to investigate again. However, the palace was still heavily guarded. Rong Tang knew that the Southern Emperor had a Dragon Guard dedicated to protecting his safety. Those assassins counterattacked with all their might. There was no chance of winning for his side, so he had to give up.

At dawn, Lao Wen flew in from outside the city and told him good news.

"We destroyed a rebel nest, seized ten carts of food and three hundred weapons, most of the rebels fled, and we took over two hundred prisoners."

Rong Tang was shocked, "How many of us are there?"

"Less than seventy."

Old Tan was in awe. "Young Master, Coach Wen is truly formidable. He went up and killed a few of the leaders first, and the rest were so scared that we shouted, 'Surrender!' We only regretted that we didn't have enough ropes to capture any prisoners, and most of them ran away."

Old Wen stood with his hands behind his back, looking proud.

"I admire you."

After the dunce caps were put on, the next step was interrogation. As expected, they were a group of rebels from the outer prefecture, who had gathered outside the city gate disguised as refugees, waiting for the food in the imperial capital to run out so that they could immediately lay siege and attack the city, and become the first among countless rebels to rush into the palace.

Rong Tang took this group of people to ask for credit from the Marquis of Yong'an. Although there was not much food and the weapons were not sophisticated, it was the first victory they had won in a period of time.

A court meeting was being held in the palace because the previously agreed crown prince was suddenly cancelled. Empress Sun was arguing with Marquis Yong'an, and less than half of the officials were watching coldly. They thought that the quarrel was just a matter between the siblings, and outsiders didn't want to interfere.

He has no objection to the emperor not showing up for a long time, so who would dare to say anything more?

It was under such circumstances that Rong Tang was summoned into the main hall and presented the captured supplies in public.

Marquis Yong'an was very happy, and Yu Rongtang exchanged a knowing look with him. The Marquis publicly appointed him as the commander-in-chief of Nanyue, responsible for suppressing the rebellion and pacifying the refugees.

Rong Tang saw with his own eyes that Empress Sun stamped the imperial seal and then put it away.

The court officials watched this farce with cold eyes, neither opposing nor approving, letting them mess around. How many loyal ministers and good generals could there be? After seeing Fu Qingshi's miserable condition, many people had lost their loyalty to the Nangong Dynasty.

After the court was dismissed, the Marquis of Yong'an cursed all the officials, saying, "Every one of them is like dead, doing nothing. After the court is over, they stay in their mansions and don't go out."

He was also very confused. With such a start, could he conquer the country?

"Your Majesty, don't worry. I remember we held a special examination in the spring. How were the results of the candidates who took the exam? Have they been assigned positions? The old ones at the moment are unwilling to work, so we can just recruit a group of younger ones and start over. The beginning of a new era of prosperity is never achieved overnight; it could take ten or twenty years."

Marquis Yong'an agreed. "I see you're quite thoughtful, so you can handle all of this. That special exam was held, but afterward, news broke that the exam questions had been leaked, and the results were invalidated. But if you'd like to see them, I can pull out the exam papers and show them to you."

The papers of the Spring Examination were all sealed in the Ministry of Rites. Rong Tang went to check with the token of Marquis Yong'an. When he got there, he saw that the place was in tatters, with books and files scattered everywhere, and there was no one to clean them up.

The Minister of Rites had been claiming to be ill for a long time and had not attended court for a long time. There was no one in the yamen who was really in charge of affairs. When he went in, he heard two clerks arguing, accusing each other of stealing many rare ancient books and hiding them to sell privately.

Seeing someone coming, he was not nervous at all. When he heard that they were looking for the Spring Examination papers, he pointed and said, "The one at the northernmost end of the east wing. Why are you looking there? It's full of discarded papers."

Rong Tang said nothing and followed their words to the room. He saw that it was tidy and neat, which was in stark contrast to the shabby state of the other people.

A beggar with dirty hair was wiping the tables, chairs, and cabinets bit by bit, muttering, "I didn't cheat. I didn't cheat."

The clerk scolded him, "You lunatic! The noble is here to look for the papers. Get out of here and don't pollute his eyes."

The madman walked out slowly, his limping leg very inflexible.

"Rong Zhan."

Rong Zhan always brought water with him when he went out, because he was not sure whether he would encounter someone who was starving to death. Upon hearing this, he took out his water bag and handed him a dry biscuit.

The clerks were drooling with greed. When they had to survive on one or two meals of porridge a day, dry biscuits meant they could fill their stomachs.

The man who was called a madman stood there in a daze. The clerk pushed him and said, "Your Excellency, please take pity on you. Please continue."

The madman took it and nibbled on it bit by bit. He looked very hungry, but his movements were still very graceful. Rong Tang heard from his previous mumbling that he was a candidate for the Spring Examination. He was not in a hurry to find the paper and waited for the madman to finish eating before asking him questions.

The clerk rambled on for him, "This guy is incredible! He's the top scorer in Jinzhou, the top scorer in this year's imperial examination. He was a rising star with a bright future, but suddenly, a cheating scandal broke out. A lifetime of hard work has been ruined. What a shame. But there's nothing we can do. The candidates from the Cui family testified, and we did find the exam questions and cheat sheets in his room."

The madman suddenly became excited, "I didn't cheat, that cheat sheet is not mine, someone framed me..."

The clerk curled his lips. "What's the point of you telling me? There's witnesses and evidence, so who would believe you? Besides, even if everyone believed you, you've offended the Cui family, and even His Majesty doesn't dare to speak up for you. Wouldn't you be sentenced to death?"

The madman sobbed, but Rong Tang heard a clue from his fragments and was shocked. "Are you Brother Xiao Poyun?"

The madman shuddered, "Who are you?"

"On the eve of the Spring Examination, at the Chongwen Hall Qingtanhui, I am Rong Tang."

The madman's eyes widened instantly, "It's you? Are you Annanbo from Southern Xinjiang?"

"It's me." Rong Tang paused. "How did you become like this?" Xiao Poyun was filled with grief and indignation. "It's the Cui family. As soon as I was selected as the top scorer, the Cui family members came to report me, saying that I knew the test questions in advance and even wrote notes. The handwriting on the notes is indeed my handwriting, but I have never written anything. Besides, with my talent, there is no need to write notes to give others a handle if I knew the test questions in advance. Even if I take a step back, the content of my paper is completely different from the notes, which is enough to prove that I didn't cheat. But it's no use. No one listened to my explanation. They all said that I cheated."

Xiao Poyun was crying, and Rong Tang frowned even more. "What happened to your leg? Even if you were found guilty of cheating, at most your score would be invalidated. I've never heard of breaking your leg."

Xiao Poyun gritted his teeth, "It was the Cui family, it was the Cui family. They were angry that I had exposed their hypocritical facade at the Qing Tan meeting, and they were retaliating against me. They wanted to ruin not only my future, but my life. They broke my legs and locked me in a dungeon. Later, the Cui family escaped, and I was left in the dungeon to die. One day, it rained heavily, and the dungeon filled with water. I took the opportunity to swim out. It was this clerk who took me in, letting me sort through the files here, and linger for the rest of my life."